Chapter Text
It was a peaceful day at the Circus, the AI birds were singing, the AI fish were swimming, and the gang was finally relaxed. It was all fine. Cue Caine in 3,2,1-
“HELLO MY SLIGHTLY USED TISSUE PUPILS!” Caine announced. Gangle nearly jumped off the couch, her guard having been let down since nothing had happened yet today.
“Caine, what are you doing?” Zooble asked, not looking up from their magazine.
“What I always do my mix-matched-part friend!” Caine said “Making things exciting and adventurous around here!” He announced, looking over at Jax, who had been leaning against the couch with his arms crossed.
“Is that what you think? I thought you just did it to torture us.” Jax said as he wore his usual sly grin. “Now Jax, I WiLl RiP-you kidder!” Caine laughed. Pomni looked concerned and glanced over at Jax, who only shrugged and looked back at Caine as he continued to talk “I’ll have you all know I have an extra special adventure today! I took a peek into the suggestion box, and decided to do this new word I learned called compromise!” Caine announced proudly, as if this was a very large milestone in his, uh, AI life “you see, I took one suggestion, and added my own little tiny twist to it.”
“And by tiny he means the whole thing is just his idea with a small element of the original suggestion.” Zooble mumbled, but Caine continued on, deciding to ignore their comment for now.
“Great, a suggestion mixed in with Caine’s idea? This is a disaster waiting to happen.” Jax mumbled to Pomni, who couldn’t help but silently agree. “Come on Jax, just give it a chance. At least Caine is taking our ideas into consideration now.” Ragatha said, the positivity just making Jax roll his eyes and cross his arms. Pomni glanced at Ragatha, then Jax, then back at Caine as he continued talking about how great this compromise would be. She appreciated Ragatha trying to look on the bright side of this, and she knew where she was coming from, but with how the last time the suggestion box was used and Caines, well, creativeness there was reason to worry.
“So Caine, are you gonna tell us what this adventure is or are you just gonna keep talking about your discovery of compromise?” Zooble asked.
“Anime!” Bubble said as he floated over. Gangles eyes grew and she let out an excited squeal “Anime?! Oh thank you thank you thank you Caine!” she said, seeming to have completely forgotten about Caines twist to it.
“Oh come on, another anime one? At least tell me it isn’t one of those slice of life anime’s again.” Jax groaned while Gangle was full on fangirling from where she sat. Maybe her comedy mask would FINALLY not break today.
“Oh don’t worry Jax, I think this will be to your liking.” Caine said, making everyone freeze and look at Caine.
“Caine, what do you mean by that?” Zooble asked.
“Let me tell you! In this adventure you will be at a high school at night, and a yandere named Aya, or Yan-chan if you’re feeling silly, is obsessed with all of you and desperate to make you hers no matter the cost! Your goal is to escape the school before she traps you in there. Forever.” Caine said, the ‘forever’ being in a deep scary voice that echoed around the circus. Everyone was silent, even Kinger looked taken aback by this. The sound of something breaking was the only thing to break the silence, the breaking sound coming from Gangles comedy mask, which had fallen off.
“Well, good luck!” Caine said, and before any of them could argue he snapped his fingers and sent them on their way. The next second they found themselves in an anime-style school, their animations changed to look like anime characters.
“Well, we gave it a chance.” Jax said to Ragatha in response to her earlier comment about giving Caine a chance. Ragatha couldn’t even respond, still trying to mentally catch up with what had just happened. The sun was setting outside, causing the hallways to be dim. The group looked around, unsure of what to do.
“Gangle, do you have any idea what’s going on?” Ragatha asked, but when they looked at Gangle her eyes were wide in awe, seeming to have forgotten this was a yandere situation.
“Hey, mask face, how do we deal with this yandere?” Jax asked, his arms crossed.
“Oh, right,” Gangle said, looking nervous now “well, usually with yandere they want the person to be obsessed with them and only ever want them, and if the person refuses they’ll take whatever measures it takes to get that person with them and only them, and often times they will kill to get that.” She explained.
“So, how is that going to work if the yandere is obsessed with all of us?” Zooble asked, a look of concern on her face.
“The yandere probably won’t like us being close together, so maybe she’ll try to seperate us, or maybe she’ll pick her favourite and try to take the rest of us out.” Gangle said as she tapped her ribbons together nervously.
“Great, I love this adventure for us.” Jax mumbled as he leaned on the wall “So, all knowing anime expert, how do we get out of here?” He asked. Before Gangle could respond though the sound of footsteps echoed in the empty hallway. The group froze and slowly looked in the direction of where it was coming from. A girl came into view, an actual human looking girl. She was wearing a sailor style school uniform and had black hair tied into a ponytail. At first glance you think she’d be normal, but just looking closer you could see something wasn’t right in her eyes. Something was off about them.
“Oh, hello there.” She said in a sickeningly sweet voice “My name is Aya, but my classmates mostly call me Yan-Chan. Cute nickname, isn’t it?” She giggled as she twirly a strand of hair around her finger. Jax cocked an eyebrow and leaned down towards Pomnie “This is the girl we’re supposed to feel threatened by?” He whispered, but before Pomni could reply Aya snapped her gaze directly on him “oh wow, you’re a really brave boy aren’t you? I like brave boys, they’re charming, and sweet, and oh so fun to break.” She giggled. Jax’s eye twitched slightly and he stood upright, grabbing Pomni’s shoulders and stepping back, keeping her in front of him to create distance and a barrier between him and Aya.
“Hey there, look we don’t want any trouble at all, and you actually look like a really sweet girl. Could you maybe, I don’t know, point us in the direction of the exit? I mean, it seems to be getting late and I think we really should be returning now. Your parents are probably worried about you.” Ragatha said, thinking maybe she could make peace with Aya, or Yan-Chan. But that only made Aya giggle “Oh, I don’t think my parents will notice. They’re, well, unavailable right now. Probably will be for while.” She giggled. Pomni noticed how Aya had her hands behind her back, and she looked at Jax and motioned towards her with her eyes. Jax noticed, and seemingly everyone else did to, because the atmosphere felt tense between all of them. Even Kinger was starting to realize how serious this was. “How about we play a game? I’ll count to 100, and I’ll come and find you!” She giggled. No one moved, and Pomni only realized she had started counting when Aya was already saying 44. “We gotta go. Now.” Pomni said. This seemed to snap everyone out of their daze and they all took off running, but by that point Aya was already halfway to 100. “We need to find a way out of here, the exit will probably be on the first floor, but also the most dangerous and guarded floor.” Gangle said as they ran.
“We need to hide while we make a plan, everyone in here.” Zooble said as they opened a door to a classroom. Once everyone was inside they shut the door and locked it, and Ragatha put a chair against it just for extra paercution, making sure the top was under the door handle so it couldn’t be easily opened. They sat on the floor in the corner, all of them just silent as they tried to listen out for anything. When they didn’t hear anything the began to speak. “Gangle, you know anime better than any of us, do you know how to get us out of here?” Zooble asked her gently.
“I-I don’t know. I’ve never-I can’t, this is to much pressure on me.” Gangle said as she dropped her face into her ribbons and just began to cry.
“Oh no, Gangle don’t cry. We’ll find a way out of here.” Ragatha said, though her words did little to comfort her. Pomni was looking around the classroom, looking for anything that could help them. Her eyes landed on the vent on the cieling, and her eyes squinted slightly as she thought. Jax followed her gaze “You’re crazy if you think that’s gonna work.” He said, though his voice lacked any of his usual maliciousness.
“I think we’re all a bit crazy, but it might be our best shot.” Pomni whispered. The rest of the group looked over to see what was going on, but before anything else could happen they heard it again. Footsteps. But also, something that sounded sharp being scraped against a wall.
“$h!t.” Zooble whispered. Instantly they all pushed their backs to the wall and peeked at the door. Aya sniffed the air “I can smell your fear, it’s delicious, my senpais.” She giggled.
“Oh god someone just kill me already.” Jax whispered, but jumped back when the door handle began to shake as Aya tried to open the door.
“The vent, now.” Pomni said. They all rushed over, climbing up onto a desk to get to the vent. Pomni was distracted and ended up being the last one to try and get in.
“I can’t reach.” She whispered as the sound of the lock unlocking could be heard, leaving the chair as the only thing stopping the door from being open.
“Pomni, grab my hands.” Ragatha said as she held her hands down to her, but Pomni still couldn’t reach.
“Movie aside rag girl.” Jax said as he pushed Ragatha aside and reached down, yoinking Pomni up and putting the vent cover back on just seconds before the door burst open. No one dared to move or speak as Aya looked around the room.
“Oh what a shame, I could have been sure my senpais were in here.” Aya said her eyes lingering on the cieling a little to long before she finally turned and left the room, which was followed by a collective sigh of relief.
“So, which way do we go now?” Ragatha asked them.
“There’s usually an exit at every wing, so maybe we just crawl around the vents until we can see a door?” Gangle suggested. Jax wanted to say how bad of an idea that was, but even he knew they didn’t really have any other choice now. So, they began their journey of crawling in the vents. They were all doing their best to stay quiet, but the metal vents creaked underneath them with every bit of weight put down. After a bit of crawling, Pomni hesitated a bit before speaking “Uh, thanks for pulling me up back there.” She said to Jax, who just waved his hand.
“Hey don’t mention it, that’s what buddying friendships are for after all.” He said, purposely wording it that way to get under Ragathas skin, or, fabric. Ragatha bit her tongue for now, really just wanting to get out of here.
“Sh, do you guys hear that?” Kinger suddenly whispered. They all froze and held still, but they didn’t hear anything. Jax just rolled his eyes and make a ‘coo coo’ motion by his head, but then suddenly a knife stabbed through right where his hand had been just seconds before.
“Senpais! I found you!” Aya’s giggle rang through the hole.
“She found us! Go go go!” Zooble said hurriedly as they all began to crawl faster. They all began to move faster, but also had to dodge the stabs Aya was making into the vent as they went.
“Guys, I found a storage room.” Pomni whispered. She lifted the vent cover off and they all fell into the room one by one. It was some sort of storage closet, and they were all squished in there.
“Oh great, nothing I love more than being packed in a room with you guys like we’re sardines in a can.” Jax said he stepped away from Ragatha.
“Just shut up, Jax. Least we’re safe in here. For now anyways.” Zooble mumbled the last part.
“Oh, this is all my fault. It was my suggestion that lead us into this mess, and my lack of leadership skill that can’t get us out of it.” Gangle said.
“Hey, this isn’t your fault. The suggestion box is there for a reason, and besides it wasn’t like you created the yandere scenario, that was on Caine.” Zooble said gently “and besides, it’s kinda hard to know what to do in situations like this when you’ve never been through it yourself. We’ll get out of this don’t worry.” Gangle managed a small sad smile at this “Thanks Zooble.” She said, followed by Jax letting out a groan “Do you two always gotta be this gushy?” He asked, earning a glare from Zooble.
“Hey guys, the coast is clear.” Pomni said as her and Kinger peeked out the hallway.
“This is our best chance to run and try to find an exit.” Kinger said, the darkness helping his mind be more stable “But we need to be quick about it, and smart about it too. Everyone needs to be keeping an eye open for any natural light, even a window will do.”
The group more or so agreed and crept out. They stayed as quiet as they could as they walked down the hallway, their eyes scanning for any sign of natural light.
“Guys, down there.” Ragatha whispered as she pointed down a hallway. When they looked there was a single emergency exit just waiting for them.
“This seems like a trap.” Pomni whispered “maybe we should find a different one.”
“There’s no time to find a different one, the sooner we get out of here the sooner we can be done with this stupid adventure.” Zooble whispered back before they began to creep down the hallway. Kinger followed close behind them, while Gangle and Ragatha slowly trailed behind, but Jax and Ponmi hung back. Something about this just didn’t seem right to them. Suddenly a giggle cut through the air, and a knife went flying and stabbing into the locker that was right in front of where Zooble was standing.
“I found you my senpais.” Aya said as she stepped out from the shadows.
“Run!” Zooble said as they booked it for the door, Kinger, Gangle, and Ragatha close behind them. Aya was chasing after them, throwing more knives at them “Come back! I only want to love you!” She said. Pomnie was frozen in fear and just watched, but suddenly she felt her arm get grabbed as she was pulled into a different hallway. Jax, who had been the one to grab her, was practically dragging her along “Come on we can’t stay here, unless you’re into this cr@p.” He said. Pomni snapped out of it and began to follow him, having to trust the others would get out the emergency exit. Meanwhile, Zooble, Gangle, Kinger, and Ragatha had just barely managed to get through the door, slamming it behind them.
“T-that was close.” Gangle said as she let out a relieved sigh. Caine suddenly appeared in the air in front of them “congratulations my pinecone littles, you four have completed the mission!”
“Us four?” Ragatha asked as she looked around “oh my god Pomni and Jax are still in there! We have to go back for them!”
“I’m afraid you can’t do that. You see this is a simulation adventure, meaning if you reentered the school you’ll be starting from the beginning again, and you’ll have a whole new yandere who will follow you, and know every move you made from the last time you were in there.” Caine said. Zooble put a hang on Ragathas shoulder “don’t worry, Pomni will be fine in there. Jax, well, he can’t die so hopefully he’ll come out a little less annoying.” They said with a shrug before walking away.
Ragatha was quiet for a second as she thought of something “Wait, Gangle you said a yandere will do anything to get the people they want, right? And when Zooble asked how it would work with so many of us, you said one thing Aya could do was choose a favourite and separate us. She wasn’t after any of us, she’s after Jax and Pomni! She separated us from them on purpose to be alone with them!” She said, everyone’s eyes widening in realization.
“Well, this certainly took a turn. I didn’t realize yandere’s could be this smart.” Caine said, making everyone look at him with a ‘wtf’ look.
Inside the school, Pomni and Jax had finally stopped running, hiding behind a rack of basketballs in the gymnasium, unaware that this had been Aya’s plan the whole time.
“What do we do now?” Pomni whispered to Jax, whose eyes scanned the gym.
“Up there.” He whispered as he pointed to a skylight on the ceiling.
“Are you crazy? How will we get up there?” Pomni whispered back.
“Hey, you said it yourself, we’re all a bit crazy.” He said as he looked around the gym, pointing to where the schools winning banners were hung “we get to those, climb up, and then swing it to the skylight. It’s our best bet for getting out of here.”
Pomni hesitated, but then again she really didn’t want to be out in the hallways with a crazy knife wielding yandere again. “Alright, let’s do this.” She said as she stood. The two walked along the walls over to where the bleachers were and began to climb up. Just as they got to the top of the bleachers the doors to the gymnasium slammed open, and Aya walked in, wearing a creepy smile. “My senpais,” she said in a soft, obsessive, sweet voice, her eyes locked onto the two “I got rid of all the others, it’s just us now. Forever and ever.”
Pomnie and Jax looked at each other, realizing this had been her plan all along. “You’re crazy, crazier than us, if you think we’d ever want to spend another second with you.” Jax said, his words making Aya’s face twist into a mix of anger and hurt “How dare you say that about me?! I’m perfect! I’m all you ever need!” She yelled before pointing at Pomni “she’s corrupted you! She made you think like this didn’t she?! Oh don’t worry, you two won’t be together long enough to influence each other anymore.” She said right as she bolted to the bleachers. “Jax come on!” Pomni said as she jumped up and grabbed onto the banner. Jax quickly followed and they began to climb up, using their bodies to swing the banner so they could grab onto the next one, trying to get to the banner that was right next to the skylight. Aya let out a half scream half groan as she thrashed up the first banner to follow them. She moved fast, but Jax and Pomni were already climbing up your last banner. Jax pushed open the window and climbed out, but right as Pomni was about to climb out Aya grabbed her foot and yanked on it “Oh no you don’t! I can’t lose both of you! And if I can’t have you, then she can’t either!” Aya yelled as she tried to pull Pomni down. Pomnie held onto the skylight. Jax stood there conflicted, looking between the edge of the roof and then glancing back at Pomni. He let out a groan “Fine.” He said to no one in particular as he grabbed Pomni’s hands and tried to pull her up, but Aya was putting up a fight and kept pulling.
“No! You both can’t be together! I need one of my senpais! And if I can’t have one of you, neither of you will have each other!” She yelled, a crazed but determined look in her eyes. Jax looked between Pomni and Aya, and then he let go of one of Pomni’s hands. For a split second, Pomni thought he was gonna let her go, but instead he reached into his pocket and pulled out some sort of pin, or maybe a button with a pin on it. She couldn’t tell, but before she could figure it out he slipped the backing out and threw it at Aya. Pomni didn’t see it, but she could hear Aya scream as the back of the pin stabbed her. Her grip loosened enough for Jax to yank Pomni up and the shut the skylight on Aya’s face. The two panted heavily as they let everything settle for a moment.
“I-thanks for doing that.” Pomni said “was that pin important to you?”
Jax was quiet for a second but shook his head “Nah, just something I found laying around the circus.” He said with a shrug. Pomni knew that wasn’t the full truth but didn’t push it right now. Caine suddenly appeared in front of them “Congratulations on finishing the adventure! I admit I didn’t except the yander to be this mentally advanced, but you got out! Now let’s head back to the circus and finally admit that the suggestion box is a horrible idea!” He said as he snapped his fingers, making a portal appear. Jax walked through it first, and Pomni watched him go before following behind him, leaving Aya yelling and sobbing inside. Back at the circus Ragatha ran over “Oh my god you guys are ok! I was so worried!”
“Aw, you were worried about me to?” Jax asked with his usual sly grin.
“Well, I uh-“ Ragatha tried to say but Zooble intervened “We’re just glad that adventure is over with.” They said, making Ragatha nod in agreement. Later that evening, on the way to his room, Jax stopped outside a certain door and looked at it. His face was stoic as he looked at the crossed out picture on there “Heh, never knew your lucky pin would actually be useful.” He barely said before looking away and continuing to his room.